The First Steps

I attended an event in Wexford last night called "First Steps". An event to which would be entrepreneurs in Wexford were invited. I am due to speak at the next session of this seminar next Wednesday about my personal experiences in setting up my own online knitting kit business. So, last night I really went to just get a heads-up about the event, see who was attending and just try to get a feel for the audience (as this'll be my first time speaking to a group as an "entrepreneur"). Fast forward 3.5 hours and I'm still in this room and I'd totally forgotten why I came. I blame this man - Kevin Kelly, he was impassioned and inspirational and he had his audience so enthralled that when the event ran over time people still sat and listened and contributed - no mean feat for an evening gig where most people have already put in an 8 hour working day.

So, what did he do, what did he say that was so different? Well, I think you really need to experience it for yourself but a good starting point might be his books - How? When you don't know how and Life- a trip towards trust. I took home a copy of each last night and I look forward to reading them. A number of things he said really had resonance. To the questioners concerned about taking the first step his encouragement was that you'll end up in a place better than your starting point. I couldn't agree more. The road to self-employment, entrepreneurship whatever label you want to use is not an easy one and it's constantly challenging but for me no doubt it's better than where I was and I've no intention of going back. Amongst the many exercises he did with the group one in particular stuck with me.

Kevin showed us a simple exercise to prove that when you believe in a positive outcome, when you put something into your mind, you go further. It was incredible and it really encouraged me to focus more on positive thinking. We all can talk ourselves out of action way too easily. I know I'm not doing the session justice in this short summary but if he's ever speaking at an event near you make sure you attend. It'll change the way you think.